Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) and A24 Ink Streaming Pact

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN – Analyst Report) announced an exclusive content licensing agreement with the independent film studio — A24 — in an attempt to extend the archive of television shows and films currently available on its streaming video site, Amazon Prime Instant Video.

The online retailer has been consistently upgrading and promoting movies and television shows on its streaming video service. Over the past 12 months, Amazon entered into a number of deals with every major Hollywood studio as well as some of the top cable networks. Recently, Amazon signed a deal with PBS Distribution for the exclusive web rights of the Season 3 of Downton Abbey.

The latest deal will make Amazon Prime Instant Video service the exclusive subscription service for streaming all current as well as forthcoming movies from A24. These include four theatrical releases, Spring Breakers, Ginger & Rosa, The Bling Ring and The Spectacular Now. Also, the studio’s upcoming releases like Under The Skin and The Rover will be added to Prime Instant Video after they are released on Blu-ray and DVD.

We believe that expanding the video archive is one of Amazon’s key strategies. The company is spending a considerable amount on licensing deals for movies and TV shows to attract more viewers. The deal is the latest effort by Amazon to strengthen its position versus Netflix (NFLX – Analyst Report), the leading online video subscription service in the United States.

Amazon is one of the leading players in an extremely fast-growing market. In the last reported third quarter, Amazon’s revenues of $17.09 billion were up sequentially as well as from the year-ago quarter. Management attributed the revenue increase to the growing consumption of digital content across different categories owing to the advantageous value proposition Amazon was able to provide to its customers.